Agreed. And beyond that, who would pay for the $100 million in renovations the BC would still need in that scenario? Renovations our current home does not need, by the way...
The Panthers, Admirals and (FWIW) the Wave could all use a 5,000 seat arena. MSG has a theater of about that size built into its complex separate from the actual arena they're famous for. If all three interested parties got together and formed an alliance, I don't think the "two arenas" scenario would be all that unlikely.Originally Posted by BBF
The "little arena down the hallway?"
No. How in the world does that come close to replicating the Milwaukee Panther Arena? People are missing the point -- this is not entirely about basketball. It may not even be mostly about basketball.
So really it comes down to what would be a bigger issues, fighting with UWM, Wave, and the lawsuits and litigation that would follow, as well as the money owed for the Theatre, if they want to use the panther arena space.
OR ponying up a lot more money to pay to fix park east, but potentially solving the issue of development by adding an anchor that attracts foot traffic, instead of having to develop from scratch in an open space that doesnt have a reason to entice anyone to it. Plus with the new arena in park east and the panther arena and theatre to the south you have two anchors that would create a development spark in the former BC location as well.
Its not a tough decision when you are working on a clock. Legal battles cant be rushed but contruction and site clean up can be, and the Bucks clock is ticking.
School of Architecture - Class of 2016
"Dressed in the Panther's skin, the Ass spread terror far and wide" #FireBraun
I don't know where you are getting the idea that it would be more expensive to build on the open site north of the BC. There is no way that is true. The demolition and site preparation costs of taking down the JS buildings and the Arena and building there have to be enormously higher than building on open ground.
Well, as I said, people are saying the soil is bad. You chose to ignore what I said. But the fact that nothing has been done there might give you a hint that the site isn't as clean as a developer would prefer.
I didn't ignore what you said, I appropriately discounted it because I know why it's being said and by whom. By the way, the soil condition under the JS site is completely unclear at this time, except that by the JS's own admission the safest presumption is that there could be a substantial environmental cleanup issue.
I'm as big a Milwaukee history buff as anyone, but it's not exactly fun playing in a venue that only fills up for Wisconsin, Marquette, and late-round tournament games. Sure, it might be the House That Kareem Built, but I'm just barely old enough to remember Kareem playing with the Showtime Lakers, and I'm a lot older than the kids we're trying to recruit. As much as we might love the old MECCA, a smaller, more-modern arena would probably have more appeal to them.
We could speculate all day about whether a new standalone 5-7,000 seat arena would be a better recruiting draw. Did I miss the story that said someone is building it?
But if it's "the little arena down the hall" inside a new complex, instead of our own building (or a building in which we have long term naming rights like the UWMPA) I can pretty much guarantee that's not going to be a recruiting draw.
The history of the Arena frankly doesn't interest me much, even though I attended MU games there when Al was the coach and Bucks games when "Lew Alcindor" was playing. The location, prominence and quality of the Arena are what I like. There is no better pure basketball arena of any size in the state.
Last edited by BBF; 11-04-2014 at 04:45 PM.
Recruits are very, very aware of who played in that building.
I'd go so far as to say that more often than not, recruits will bring that up when I ask them why they committed. Not that it tipped the scales in any way, but they remember it as something they like about the Panthers.
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